Geographic Data Collection Using Game Play

ABSTRACT

A method is disclosed for collecting geographic data during game play. A game scenario includes an activity for the game player to perform. The game player may be given an incentive within the context of the game for performing the activity. The incentive may be of non-monetary, monetary or in-game value. Performing the activity within the context of the game directly or indirectly results in the generation of data that is collected and used for the purpose of updating, adding to or supplementing a geographic database.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of application Ser. No.12/607,222 filed Oct. 28, 2009, which is a continuation of applicationSer. No. 11/453,449 filed Jun. 15, 2006 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,628,704),the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to collecting geographic data and moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a process and system thatcollects geographic data using game play.

Collecting information for a geographic database is a significant task.Not only is the initial collection of data a significant undertaking,but a geographic database needs to be updated on a regular basis. Forexample, new streets are constructed, street names change, trafficlights are installed, and turn restrictions are added to existing roads.Further, new businesses open, locations of business change, hours ofoperation change, etc. Also, new levels of detail may be added aboutgeographic features that are already represented in an existinggeographic database. For example, an existing geographic database forroads may be enhanced with information about lane widths, shouldersizes, lane barriers, address ranges, sidewalks, bicycles paths, etc.Thus, there exists a need to continue to collect information for ageographic database.

Methods for collecting data for geographic databases are described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,047,234 and 6,816,784, the entire disclosures of whichare incorporated by reference herein. According to one embodimentdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,234, navigation systems are installedin a plurality of vehicles that are operated for various purposes. As anexample, the vehicles may be used by persons for routine, everydayactivities, such as commuting, shopping, and so on. These vehicles arealso used passively as probes to collect geographic data as the vehiclesare driven for these various other purposes. The navigation systems inthese vehicles may also provide navigation-related features to thedrivers and/or passengers of the vehicles in which they are installed,or alternatively, the navigation systems may serve only to collectgeographic data as the vehicles in which they are installed are driven.The geographic data collected by the plurality of vehicles are gatheredtogether, analyzed, and used to update or refine a master geographicdatabase. Copies of the master geographic database, or database productsderived from the master copy, can then be distributed back to thenavigation systems installed in the plurality of vehicles.

According to one embodiment described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,816,784,positioning equipment is installed in each of a plurality of vehiclesthat are operated for making deliveries. Geographic data is collectedthat relates the delivery vehicle positions to the addresses associatedwith the deliveries.

The embodiments described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,047,234 and 6,816,784afford useful advantages. However, there still exists room for furtherimprovements relating to collection of data for a geographic database.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To address these and other objectives, the present invention includes amethod for collecting geographic data during game play. A game scenarioincludes an activity for the game player to perform. The game player maybe given an incentive within the context of the game for performing theactivity. The incentive may be of non-monetary, monetary or nominalvalue. Performing the activity within the context of the game directlyor indirectly results in the generation of data that is collected andused for the purpose of updating or adding to a geographic database.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing components of an overall systemaccording to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 block diagram showing a system for performing one of the steps ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing steps in a process performed by the firstembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a geographic area 100. The geographic area 100 may be aportion of a city, state or country. The geographic area 100 may includeroads 104 and buildings 108. Located in the geographic area 100 are aplurality of users of portable electronic devices 112. The portableelectronic devices 112 can be used for playing games. The portableelectronic devices 112 may be implemented on various different hardwareand/or software platforms. For example, the different types of portableelectronic devices 112 may include conventional mobile phones, generalpurpose personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), portable media players,portable navigation systems, digital cameras, and dedicated game playingdevices. Other types of portable electronic devices may also be used.

A game services server 116 supports the users of the portable electronicdevices 112 located in the area 100. The game services server 116 may belocated in the geographic area 100 or may be located remotely from thegeographic area 100. The users of the portable electronic devices 112communicate with the game services server 116 over a network 118, atleast a part of which includes a wireless network. The wireless portionof the network may be implemented using any technology or combination oftechnologies, including cellular, satellite, PCS, Bluetooth, WiFi, orany other type of wireless communication.

The network 118 provides for the exchange of data between the users ofthe portable electronic devices 112 and the game services server 116.

FIG. 2 is a diagram that shows components of one of the portableelectronic devices 112 and the game services server 116 in FIG. 1. Theportable electronic device 112 and the game services server 116 shown inFIG. 2 are representative examples and are intended to depict only someof the components thereof. It is recognized that there may be variousdifferent types of devices and servers with different kinds ofcomponents.

The exemplary portable electronic device 112 in FIG. 2 includes hardwareand software 128 for exchanging data over the network 118 with theremotely located game services server 116. In addition, the portableelectronic device 112 in FIG. 2 includes a user interface 134 forconveying information to and receiving information from the user. Theuser interface 134 may include a display screen, a keypad, a speaker, amicrophone, and so on. Further, the portable electronic device 112includes a game application 138. The game application 138 may beinstalled locally on the device 112, remotely on a server (such as thegame services server 116), or partly locally and partly remotely. Thegame application 138 is a software program that supports participationin a computer game.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the portable electronic device 112also includes a positioning system 148. The positioning system 148 is acombination of hardware and software components that allows the positionof the portable electronic device 112 to be determined. The positioningsystem 148 may be a GPS unit. In another alternative, the position ofthe portable electronic device 112 may be determined remotely, e.g.,using signal time-of-arrival, signal triangulation, or anothertechnology. In still another alternative, the position of the portableelectronic device 112 may be determined by having the user input knowncurrent position information into the device, e.g., by speaking or usingthe keypad.

In FIG. 2, the game services server 116 includes the hardware andsoftware suitable for supporting online computer games with multiple,remotely located users. The game services server 116 includes acommunications and data exchange system and applications 150. Thecommunications and data exchange system and applications 150 areoperable to communicate and exchange data with the multiple portableelectronic devices 112 over the network 118. The game services server116 includes a game management application 154. The game managementapplication 154 supports one or more online computer games played by theremotely located users of portable electronic devices 112. For example,the game management application 154 may provide the game scenario, keeptrack of players, scores, and so on. In addition, as explained in moredetail below, the game management application 154 is capable ofmodifying aspects of computer games being played by users on theirportable electronic devices 112, including the game scenario, scoring,rewards, hints, and so on.

In one embodiment, the game services server 116 also includes a playerposition monitoring application 160. The player position monitoringapplication 160 receives and updates information that indicates thepositions of each of the portable electronic devices 112 located in thegeographic area 100. The player position monitoring application 160 alsoreceives data from the game server application 154 to keep track ofwhich users (i.e., which portable electronic devices) are playing eachsupported game.

The player position monitoring application 160 uses a geographicdatabase 184. The geographic database 184 includes information about thelocations of roads, address ranges along roads, buildings, points ofinterest, businesses, and so on, in the geographic area (100 in FIG. 1).The player position monitoring application 160 receives data indicativeof a user's position and matches the position to a map position, usingthe geographic database 184. For example, the player position monitoringapplication 160 may receive data generated by the positioning system 148in a user's portable electronic device 112 that indicates the user'slatitude, longitude, and altitude. Using this information, the playerposition monitoring application 160 accesses the geographic database 184to determine the corresponding street or building location of the user.The player position monitoring application 160 may also accept dataindicating a user's position in different formats. For example, if theuser indicates his/her own position audibly or through manual input intoa keypad, the player position monitoring application 160 interprets thisinput and converts it to a compatible format.

The game services server 116 also includes a geographic data collectionapplication 176. The geographic data collection application 176 includesseveral component applications or routines. More specifically, thegeographic data collection application 176 includes an application 180for identifying needed data 182. The component application 180 foridentifying needed data is responsive to the geographic database 184.The geographic data collection application 176 also includes a componentapplication 188 for collecting player position data from the playerposition monitoring application 160, a component application 190 thatverifies and performs quality control processes on the collected data,and a component application 194 that updates the geographic database 184with the collected data. Operation of these component applications isdescribed in more detail below.

Operation

FIG. 3 shows a process 200 performed by the game services server 116 ofFIG. 2. The steps in the process 200 may be performed by one or more ofthe applications on the game services server 116.

In an initial step, the data identification application (180 in FIG. 2,which may be a component part of the geographic data collectionapplication 176) identifies needed data to be collected (Step 220 inFIG. 3). The data identification application 180 may use the geographicdatabase 184 for this purpose. There are various different kinds ofneeded data that may be collected by the data collection application 176and identified by the data identification application 180. For example,the data identification application 180 may search for gaps in coverageor may identify data that may need to be updated or confirmed.

Some of the different kinds of needed data that may be collected by thedata collection application 176 include the following:

-   -   geographic positions of roads, intersections, sidewalks,        pedestrian paths, and points of interest,    -   routes,    -   traffic control (e.g., stop signs, stop lights, etc.),    -   traffic conditions (including highway and public        transportation),    -   street or business names or addresses, and weather conditions.

The above list is not intended to be exclusive and additional kinds ofdata may be collected by the data collection application 176.

The game management application 154 uses the identified needed data 182to generate an appropriate computer game scenario (Step 230). Forexample, the computer game scenario may be modified in such a manner soas to cause the game player to take an action within the context of thegame scenario from which geographic data can be collected. The manner inwhich the game management application 154 generates or modifies the gamescenario depends on the kind of geographic data to be collected, as wellas the type of game the player is playing. As an example, if the neededdata is the location of or route to a coffee shop, the online computergame scenario may be generated or modified in such a manner that thegame player is provided an incentive (e.g., reward) for traveling to thecoffee shop. According to another example, if the needed data includesthe traffic conditions along a road, the online computer game scenariois generated or modified so that the game player is provided anincentive (e.g., reward) for traveling along the road and indicatingspecific intersections along the way. Different types of needed data mayrequire different kinds of game scenarios and modifications thereto.

The following list identifies some of the different kinds of needed datathat may be collected by the data collection application 176 and thekinds of activities that the game management application 154 maygenerate or modify a game scenario to include:

-   -   geographic positions of roads, intersections, sidewalks,        pedestrian paths, points of    -   interest (e.g., indicated by the geographic position of the        portable electronic device)    -   routes (e.g., indicated by the sequence of positions of the        portable electronic device)    -   traffic control (e.g., indicated by the density of positions of        the portable electronic device at the locations of        intersections)    -   traffic conditions (e.g., indicated by the density of positions        of the portable electronic device along a route or the        velocities of portable electronic devices)    -   street or business names or addresses (e.g., reported by the        game player via the portable electronic device user interface)    -   weather conditions (e.g., reported by the game player via the        portable electronic device user interface).

The above list is not intended to be exclusive and additional kinds ofgame scenarios may be developed and used to collect the needed data.

As stated above, the game management application 154 generates the gamescenario to provide an action or activity for the game player to performso that data generated during performance of the desired action oractivity can be collected and used for the purpose of adding to orenhancing a geographic database. The game management application mayprovide the game player with an incentive to perform the action oractivity. In one embodiment, the incentive is a non-monetary incentive,such as game points, game enhancements (e.g., additional game attributesor features), game clues, and so on. Alternatively, the incentive mayhave minimal or nominal value, e.g., extra game play. In still anotheralternative, the incentive may have actual monetary value, e.g., money,coupons, discounts, etc. The incentive may be a reward that the gameplayer may be able to trade or sell within the game environment forother items, assets, or service, or for real world items of value,including currency. In yet another alternative, the incentive may not bea reward as such, but may consist of the actual act of performing theactivity within the continuing context of the game. These variousincentives may be combined.

Once the game management application 154 determines the appropriate gamescenario, the game services server 116 transmits the game scenario tothe portable electronic device 112 (Step 236). The communications anddata exchange application (150 in FIG. 2) may be used for this purpose.After the game scenario is transmitted to the portable electronic device112, the game is played by the game player, e.g., using the portableelectronic device 112. In one embodiment, the player monitoringapplication 160 on the game services server 116 acquires data from theportable electronic device 112 (Step 240) that indicates the player'sactivity while playing the modified game. The type of data acquired bythe player monitoring application 160 may vary depending on the type ofdata needed and the type of game scenario that was prepared by the gamemanagement application 154. For example, if the kind of needed data isthe location of a coffee shop and the game scenario included a rewardfor traveling to the coffee shop and indicating arrival at the coffeeshop using the keypad of the portable electronic device 112, the playermonitoring application 160 acquires data that indicates the position ofthe portable electronic device 112 when the appropriate key isactivated. The player's position may be obtained from the positioningsystem 148 in the portable electronic device 112. According to anotherexample, if the kind of needed data is the name of a business at aspecific location and the game scenario included a reward for travelingto the location and indicating the name of the business via the userinterface 134 of the portable electronic device 112, the playermonitoring application 160 acquires the data that indicates the positionof the portable electronic device 112 when the name is entered.

On the game services server 116, the data acquired from the portableelectronic device 112 may be processed (Step 250). For example, the dataacquired from the portable electronic device 112 may be aggregated withdata collected from other portable electronic devices. This aggregateddata may be subjected to statistical analysis. Also, the data acquiredfrom the portable electronic device 112 may be subjected to verificationand other quality control procedures.

Once the data acquired from the portable electronic device 112 isprocessed, the data is added to or used to update or modify thegeographic database 184 (Step 260). For example, the data may be used toupdate existing data in the geographic database 184. Alternatively, thedata may be used to expand coverage of the geographic database 184,e.g., by adding data about new roads, walkways, points of interest, etc.Alternatively, the data may be used to confirm or verify data already inthe geographic database, e.g., confirming that a business is still inoperation at a certain location. In another alternative, the data may beused to supplement the data in the geographic database 184, e.g., byadding current traffic or weather conditions.

Advantages

One of the advantages of the embodiments described above is that thegame player can be directed to collect specific data that mightotherwise be difficult to obtain with passive probe data collectionsystems. With passive probe data collections systems, data is collectedfrom users who are engaged in activities entirely unrelated to datacollection. Thus, with passive systems, there is no guarantee that anyprobe data vehicle or device will travel to a specific location orcollect certain data. By comparison, with the disclosed embodiments, agame player can be directed to proceed to a specific location as part ofa game scenario.

Another advantage of the disclosed embodiments is that specific kinds ofdata can be collected with relatively little expense. i.e., because agame player can be provided a non-monetary incentive to perform acertain activity needed to collect the data.

Additional Features and Alternatives

The embodiments described herein are not limited to only games played byplayers with portable electronic devices. Depending on the type of dataneeded to be collected to update the geographic database, embodimentsmay include games played by users with non-mobile (includingnon-portable) electronic devices, or a combination of users with mobileelectronic devices and users with non-mobile (including non-portable)electronic devices.

The disclosed embodiments are not limited to using portable electronicdevices that have wireless communication capability. Portable electronicdevices that do not have a wireless communications capability butinstead have the ability to connect to a network (e.g., via a USB cableor other physical connector) to download new scenarios, game informationand to upload information may be used.

The kind of geographic data collected by the disclosed embodiments mayalso include data for game development purposes. As an example, a gamedeveloper first creates a game that has geographic aspects (e.g., is setin a real city). Then, the game developer sends players out to play thegame and have them collect geographic data (e.g., street layouts,pictures of building, etc.) as part of the game scenario. The gamedeveloper then uses the data to make the game more realistic, and maymodify the game play itself based on the new geographical information.This new geographic data may also be used for computer game developmentpurposes, such as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos.10/798,459, 10/798,531, 10/798,632, and 10/798,703, the entiredisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

In another alternative, an online computer game may use vehicles anddrivers as game pieces, controlled by players in a multi-player onlinegame, such as a fantasy commuter league game where players selectparticipating commuters and follow their progress each day as theycommute to and from work. Game players would receive points for thefastest commute times (while complying with applicable legalrestrictions). The routes taken by the frequent winners and worst loserswould be collected and analyzed for developing routes for other drivers.

Another feature that may be incorporated in the disclosed embodiments isto provide incentives to game players to interact with other gameplayers (or non-game players). For example, the disclosed embodimentsmay provide incentives to game players to interact with or recruitothers into the game, e.g., to collect spatial data. Another featurethat may be incorporated into the disclosed embodiments is to provideincentives to game players to coordinate teams or groups (e.g.,hierarchical groups) of players (or non-game players) within the gameenvironment to collect certain types of data.

The data collected with the disclosed embodiments may not used itselffor purposes of adding to a geographic database, but instead may be usedfor quality control purposes, e.g., to confirm geographic data collectedby other means.

According to yet another alternative, the game may be a non-computergame that uses a phone or other electronic device only for positioningand/or conveying game instructions/activities.

In the above embodiments, it was disclosed that the portable electronicdevice included a positioning system, such as a GPS unit. Alternatively,the portable electronic device may not have a positioning system.Instead, the portable electronic device may have only communicationscapability and the game scenario may direct the game player to astationary location zone, such as within broadcast range of WiFi, SSID,or visual sight of a landmark.

The disclosed embodiments may be used for determining whether publictransportation is on schedule, e.g., by monitoring the positions of gameplayers who are traveling on public transportation.

It is intended that the foregoing detailed description be regarded asillustrative rather than limiting and that it is understood that thefollowing claims including all equivalents are intended to define thescope of the invention.

We claim:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a user interface configured todisplay a game scenario of a computer game, the game scenario of thecomputer game formulated to prompt a computer game player to perform anactivity including physically moving to a real-world location, whereinformulation of the game scenario of the computer game is based onidentification of a lack of geographic data including geographicposition data of a geographic feature in a navigation database anddetermination of the activity to be performed by the computer gameplayer to obtain the geographic data lacking in the navigation database;and circuitry configured to provide the game scenario for display on theuser interface on which the computer game is being played on by thecomputer game player, wherein the circuitry is further configured toobtain real-world geographic data based on performance of the activity,the real-world geographic data corresponding to the identified lack ofgeographic data in the navigation database and including data indicativeof a name of a business, a name of a path, a name of apoint-of-interest, a business address, a path address, or apoint-of-interest address, and wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to provide the real-world geographic data to update thenavigation database, updating the navigation database including addingthe name of the business, the name of the path, the name of thepoint-of-interest, the business address, the path address, or thepoint-of-interest address in the navigation database.
 2. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the navigation database is a remote database.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the navigation database contains datarepresenting roads in a geographic area including data representing turnrestrictions of the roads, address ranges along the roads, street namesof the roads, and locations of the roads.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the geographic position data includes latitude and longitudeinformation.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the computer gameplayer is prompted to perform the activity via an incentive provided bythe computer game scenario.
 6. An apparatus comprising: a navigationdatabase; circuitry configured to cause identification of a lack ofgeographic data in the navigation database, the lacking geographic dataincludes geographic position data of a geographic feature, wherein thecircuitry is further configured to cause determination of an activity tobe performed by a computer game player to obtain the geographic datalacking in the navigation database, the activity including physicallymoving to a real-world location, and wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to cause formulation of a game scenario of a computer gamethat prompts the computer game player to perform the activity; and thecircuitry configured to cause data representing the game scenario to beprovided to a user device, the game scenario displayed on a userinterface of the user device in which the computer game is being playedon by the computer game player, wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to collect real-world geographic data based on performance ofthe activity, the collected real-world geographic data corresponding tothe identified lack of geographic data in the navigation database andincluding data indicative of a name of a business, a name of a path, aname of a point-of-interest, a business address, a path address, or apoint-of-interest address, wherein the circuitry is further configuredto cause the navigation database to be updated based on the collectedreal-world geographic data, updating the navigation database includingadding the name of the business, the name of the path, the name of thepoint-of-interest, the business address, the path address, or thepoint-of-interest address in the navigation database.
 7. The apparatusof claim 6, wherein the navigation database contains data representingroads in a geographic area including data representing turn restrictionsof the roads, address ranges along the roads, street names of the roads,and locations of the roads.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein thegeographic position data includes latitude and longitude information. 9.An apparatus comprising: a user interface configured to display a gamescenario of a computer game, the game scenario of the computer gameformulated to prompt a computer game player to perform an activityincluding reporting a weather condition; and circuitry configured toprovide the game scenario for display on the user interface on which thecomputer game is being played on by the computer game player, whereinthe circuitry is further configured to obtain weather data based onperformance of the activity, the weather data including data indicativeof a real-world weather condition at a geographic location, and whereinthe circuitry is further configured to provide the weather data tosupplement the navigation database, supplementing the navigationdatabase including associating data representing the real-world weathercondition to data in the navigation database.
 10. The apparatus of claim9, wherein the navigation database contains data representing roads in ageographic area including data representing turn restrictions of theroads, address ranges along the roads, street names of the roads, andlocations of the roads.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein thecomputer game player is prompted to perform the activity via anincentive provided by the computer game scenario.
 12. An apparatuscomprising: a navigation database; circuitry configured to causeformulation of a game scenario of a computer game that prompts thecomputer game player to perform an activity including reporting aweather condition; and the circuitry configured to cause datarepresenting the game scenario to be provided to a user device, the gamescenario displayed on a user interface of the user device in which thecomputer game is being played on by the computer game player, whereinthe circuitry is further configured to collect weather data based onperformance of the activity, the collected weather data including dataindicative of a real-world weather condition at a geographic location,wherein the circuitry is further configured to cause the navigationdatabase to be supplemented based on the collected weather data,supplementing the navigation database including associating datarepresenting the real-world weather condition to data in the navigationdatabase.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the navigation databasecontains data representing roads in a geographic area including datarepresenting turn restrictions of the roads, address ranges along theroads, street names of the roads, and locations of the roads.
 14. Anapparatus comprising: a user interface configured to display a gamescenario of a computer game, the game scenario of the computer gameformulated to prompt a computer game player to perform an activityincluding physically moving to a real-world location; and circuitryconfigured to provide the game scenario for display on the userinterface on which the computer game is being played on by the computergame player, wherein the circuitry is further configured to obtaingeographic data based on performance of the activity, the geographicdata including data indicative of a traffic control device, wherein thetraffic control device includes a traffic light or a sign, and whereinthe circuitry is further configured to provide the geographic data toupdate the navigation database, updating the navigation databaseincluding adding data representing the traffic control device in thenavigation database.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein thenavigation database contains data representing roads in a geographicarea including data representing turn restrictions of the roads, addressranges along the roads, street names of the roads, and locations of theroads.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the computer game playeris prompted to perform the activity via an incentive provided by thecomputer game scenario.
 17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein theactivity further includes reporting the traffic control device orreporting a traffic condition.
 18. An apparatus comprising: a navigationdatabase; circuitry configured to cause formulation of a game scenarioof a computer game that prompts the computer game player to perform anactivity including physically moving to a real-world location; and thecircuitry configured to cause data representing the game scenario to beprovided to a user device, the game scenario displayed on a userinterface of the user device in which the computer game is being playedon by the computer game player, wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to collect geographic data based on performance of theactivity, the collected geographic data including data indicative of atraffic control device, wherein the traffic control device includes atraffic light or a sign, wherein the circuitry is further configured tocause the navigation database to be updated based on the collectedgeographic data, updating the navigation database including adding datarepresenting the traffic control device in the navigation database. 19.The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the navigation database contains datarepresenting roads in a geographic area including data representing turnrestrictions of the roads, address ranges along the roads, street namesof the roads, and locations of the roads.
 20. The apparatus of claim 18,wherein the game scenario is configured to prompt the computer gameplayer to perform the activity via an incentive.